Assessment of Tuff Sea Cliff Stability Integrating Geological Surveys and Remote Sensing. Case History from Ventotene Island (Southern Italy)

Abstract

This study provides a detailed integrated analysis of the erosional processes affecting the volcanoclastic headlands of a pocket beach, of a typical Tyrrhenian volcanic island (Ventotene, south Italy). It compares the survey carried out in 2012 and the recent landslides that occurred in 2018–2020. The studied tuff cliff is characterised by steep, up to overhanging walls affected by a fracture network, which locally isolates blocks in precarious equilibrium. The stability conditions of the southern Cala Nave Bay sea cliff were evaluated by integrating a geological field survey, structural analysis of discontinuities, and a detailed topographic survey consisting of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and photogrammetry data acquisition and processing, providing a three-dimensional (3D) model of the sea cliff. The 3D model of the area affected by the recent landslides was created using proximity photogrammetry, the Structure for Motion (SfM) methodology. The fracture network was represented by using high-resolution digital models and projected to realize geostructural vertical mapping of the cliff. The data acquired in 2012 were more recently compared with further surveys carried out, following rock failures that occurred in winter 2019–2020. The detachment planes and failure modalities coincide perfectly with the ones previously assessed. The applied techniques and the comparison with the recent rock failures have proven to be important in defining these conditions to address risk mitigation interventions.

Keywords

• tuff cliff
• terrestrial laser scanner
• pocket beach
• sea cliff erosion
• GIS processing
• vertical geological map